Jordan (Jill Hennessy) is a smart, attractive and independent medical examiner. However her brilliance and enthusiasm make her politically incorrect and difficult to work with. When an incident with her boss sends her to an anger management class, she can’t wait to get out of L.A. That’s when she gets a call from her old boss Garret Macy (Miguel Ferrer) in Boston. She jumps at the chance and her colleagues are all happy to have her back. But of course authority figures and cops aren’t so fond of her, as she doesn’t give a damn about red tape and is not satisfied with just determining the cause of death. She just loves following the clues and trying to find the killer. This is a habit that comes from her childhood, as her mother was murdered over 20 years ago and her cop dad raised her like a cop.
Not being able to afford a new place with her unimpressive salary, she crashes at her -now retired- dad’s place. She also needs to deal with the fact that her dad just might have moved on from her mom and her death…
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Each episode of Crossing Jordan typically deals with a new case, as well as the friendships and relationships both in and outside the office. Over time, some changes of the cast members change. In season 2, Jerry O’ Connell joins the main cast as the over-invested but good cop Woody, who has a complicated relationship with Jordan. The metal-music loving medical examiner Nigel (Steve Valentine), for instance, becomes more of a main character. Some of the early cast members leave.
I stumbled upon crossing Jordan as I was determined to watch everything Charles Mesure (Kyle Hobbes of V) was a part of. He played a romantic lead to Jordan for 12 episodes (in season 5) and he also wrote one of the episodes himself. Their relationship was fun but complicated, as J.D. (Charles Mesure) was a journalist and everyday at Jordan’s office is newsworthy. Then of course there was Woody…
Crossing Jordan is a really entertaining criminal show, especially for those who love strong female characters. It is also always refreshing to see a female character who is not into marriage and kids, who has intimacy issues and screws up her relationships. And she is fantastic at her job and she can literally kick ass as she knows how to defend herself.
Recommended Episodes:
– The pilot. It’s great at establishing who Jordan is and it has one hell of a story line.
– Season 5 – the J.D. Pollock episodes
– Season 6 – episode 1 – the last J.D. episode, and a really good season-starter.
Fun notes:
– Actor Jerry O’Connell is one of the co-writers of the movie First Daughter starring Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas & Michael Keaton. The movie storyline just might remind you of Chasing Liberty.
Also on Charles Mesure
– V starring Elizabeth Mitchell & Charles Mesure